That would be an awesome race. I wish it could really be arranged and hyped and run in prime-time. I can dream can't I? I think Bolt may have the edge but Bekele would be gaining on him with each stride. I think he would run out of track though.

Hasn't Bekele run 46 high for 400m before? If so, he's only a second or two back of Bolt at 400m and Bolt will probably die badly after that. I think if they raced right now, I'd give the edge to Bekele but if they were both given 4 months to train specifically for running a fast 600m, Bolt would probably pull off the win. It's easier to develop endurance through training than speed.

no, you are an idiot. In an open 400 meter race, there is absolutely NO way bekele is running in the high 46's. You are not understanding the kind of aerobic capacity that he has. Just because he can close in a 53 doesn't mean that he can run a 46 in an open 400. It doesn't work that way. So no, you get a clue.

no, you are an idiot. In an open 400 meter race, there is absolutely NO way bekele is running in the high 46's. You are not understanding the kind of aerobic capacity that he has. Just because he can close in a 53 doesn't mean that he can run a 46 in an open 400. It doesn't work that way. So no, you get a clue.

The fact that he may have a large aerobic capacity supports the possibility that he may only have 50sec 400m ability, but that fact certainly does not mean that he can't have faster 400m ability.

Also, the fact that he has such a high aerobic capacity coupled with the fact that he works on his top speed multiple times per week supports the possibility that he COULD have faster than 50sec 400m ability, doesnt it?

I mean, he dropped a 12.x 100m segment during his last lap of the Olympic 10k, he's had several 24.xx 200m segments in 5k and 10k races. If his aerobic capacity and speed endurance are that great, wouldn't he be able to hold out those speeds if he ran a 400m fresh (without miles of hard running immediately prior to it)?

and to everyone: stop with the name calling(idiot, "get a clue", moron, "are you stupid", etc...). it brings the message board down.

For a regular 100/200m runner I would say Bekele easy. However as Bolt has run 45.28 for 400m that makes it a lot closer.

Bekele 400m is unknown and more difficult to guess. 46 is out as Coe & Ovett (46.87 /47.5) as 800/1500 runners could barely manage that. 48-49 seem likely.

This would put him 3+ seconds down on Bolt for 400m. However as Bolt is a 100/200 specialist doing an occasional 400m I would go for Bekele to hold Bolt off slightly. This is especially as Bolt ran a bit slower than his 400pb this year.

But its too much into the unknown, Bolt could fold completely after 400m or hold form and some of that 3 second gap for the win